FIVE STRAIGHT FOR MEN'S BASKETBALL; FINAL HOME WEEKEND LOOMS
Riding a five-game winning streak and sitting alone in second place in
the CCAA standings, the Men’s Basketball team closes out its regular
season home schedule this weekend when it hosts Cal State L.A.
(12-9/6-8/8th place) and Cal State Dominguez Hills
(13-7/8-6/T5th)...Coach Chris Carlson’s club, now 14-6 overall and 10-4
in conference play, went overtime with both L.A. and Dominguez Hills on
the road in January, losing to the former and beating the latter...With
six league contests remaining, UCSD is within reach of its all-time
best 12 CCAA wins (2005-06).

Last Friday, the Tritons put five players in double figures while
upending defending CCAA champ Humboldt State, 84-72, at RIMAC
Arena...UCSD trailed throughout the first half but a late Shane Poppen
lay-up cut the margin to four at halftime...It stayed close after the
break but a Clint Allard steal led to a Darryl Lawlor trey that gave
the Tritons a 41-40 lead that they never surrendered...Fifty percent
shooting from the field off-set a poor (1-9) night beyond the arc and
UCSD out-rebounded the Lumberjacks, 35-28...Kelvin Kim (14 pts.),
Lawlor (13), Allard (10, including 9-of-10 from the free throw line),
Jordan Lawley (10) and Poppen (10) were the scoring leaders...Poppen
posted his first career double double, pulling down 10 boards.

A night later, the Tritons led wire-to-wire, romping past Sonoma State,
82-61, their biggest winning margin of the season...UCSD hit a
phenomenal 75% from the three-point range and had assists on 22 of its
31 field goals...On the defensive end, Carlson’s charges held the
Seawolves scoreless (0-8) from three-point land and blocked six
shots...Sophomore Alan Husted scored a career high 17 points on 6-of-7
shooting, senior Henry Patterson recorded a 15 pt./10 rebound double
double (including the squad’s first dunk of the season) and Lawley
pitched in with 14...Senior Andrew Hatch completed a solid weekend by
scoring 12 points and hit all eight of his shots over the two games.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STAYS IN 3RD; FINAL HOME WEEKEND NEXT
Battling for conference and NCAA post-season position, Coach Charity
Elliott’s Women’s Basketball team returns to RIMAC Arena this weekend
for its final two home games of the regular season...The Tritons are
17-7 overall and 9-5 (T3rd) in the conference after splitting two home
outings last weekend...Furnishing the opposition this week will be Cal
State L.A. (8-12/5-8/T8th) Friday and Cal State Dominguez Hills
(11-10/5-9/T8th) Saturday...UCSD is within hailing distance of its
third consecutive 20-win campaign.

The Tritons dropped a puzzling, 76-65, decision to Humboldt State
Friday night, their second loss to the Lumberjacks this year...They
dominated the first half and used a 16-7 closing run to go into the
locker room up by 10...But the second half was a nightmare as the
Tritons turned the ball over 10 times, missed all six of their
three-point tries and never seemed to find a rhythm...HSU shot 50% for
the game...Senior Meaghan Noud and junior Michelle Osier provided most
of the offensive punch...Noud rang up 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting and
hit 10 of 12 charity tosses...Osier recorded another double double with
13 points and 13 boards...Senior Alexis Mezzetta handed out eight
assists.

Things got turned around quickly, however, as the Tritons carved up
Sonoma State, 72-59, twenty-four hours later...Noud had an
uncharacteristically poor shooting night (2-of-12) and just eight
points, but Osier (17 pts./15 rebounds), Mezzetta (17 pts./4 rebounds/4
assists) and senior Alexis Gaskin (15 points/7 rebounds) picked up the
slack...UCSD was the pursuer much of the first half but took control
the first four minutes of the second half and eased to the final
buzzer...The win was keyed by a defense that forced 21 Sonoma State
turnovers.

SWIMMING & DIVING LOOK FOR DOUBLE TITLE REPEAT AT CONFERENCE MEET
With an eye of the NCAA Division II Championships, just a month away,
the Swimming & Diving teams head to Long Beach for the annual
Pacific Collegiate Swim Championships, Wednesday through Saturday, at
Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool...Both teams are defending champions at this
event which includes teams from Divisions I, II, III and NAIA...Coach
Scott McGihon’s squad goes into the meet with 14 athletes already
qualified for the NCAA meet...He is anticipating perhaps eight
additional athletes to post qualifying marks at the PCSC event.

SOFTBALL TEAM SPLITS CCAA-OPENING SERIES WITH CHICO STATE.
After giving all indications on the first week of the season that it
would be an offensive juggernaut, the Softball team saw its bats go
cold and had to rely in large part on pitching and defense to pull out
a split in a four-game home series with Chico State last weekend...The
Tritons now travel to Phoenix for the Schutt Sports D-II Leadoff
Classic...UCSD will play Grand Canyon (9:30 AM) and Missouri Western
State (Noon) on Thursday and New Mexico Highlands (11:00 AM) Friday
with the remaining scheduled determined by those results...Coach Patti
Gerckens’ charges come into the tourney at 6-2.

Chico State won the first game of Friday’s doubleheader, 1-0, and the
Tritons turned the tables in the nightcap, 2-0...Senior Melissa Ward
gave up just five hits and struck out seven in the opener but it was
not enough as UCSD was able to eke out just two hits of its own and was
unable to overcome the Wildcats’ lone fourth inning run...The two teams
were scoreless through five in game two but a slicing double to left by
junior Jenni Habib plated freshman Katrin Gabriel with the lead run and
senior Jenny Maze’s RBI single to center provided insurance...Junior
Lauren Chastain went the distance on the bump, giving up just three
hits and whiffing five for her third victory.

Saturday, Ward fired a seven-inning no-hitter but again ended up a hard
luck loser as Chico State touched her up for four ninth-inning runs and
a 4-0 win...Game two was another extra inning affair, but this time the
Tritons prevailed, 6-5, as their 14th hit of the game, a two-out eighth
inning Chastain single, drove home freshman Sarah Woofter who had
opened the inning with a double...Christine Zankich, in relief of
Chastain, picked up the victory and five players had two hits
apiece...Woofter hit her first collegiate home run...Maze and Ward were
CCAA Player and Pitcher of the Week respectively (previous week).

BASEBALL TAKES FOUR FROM GRAND CANYON
Sporting six consecutive wins, including a four-game sweep of visiting
Grand Canyon over the weekend, Coach Dan O’Brien’s Baseball team now
hosts Division II Barry (FL) for a four-game set, starting Friday...The
Tritons are 7-2 on the season.

Monday, Garrett Imeson’s eighth inning RBI single lifted UCSD to a 3-2
victory over Western Oregon and salvaged a split of the four-game
series...The contest was moved to Monday after a Sunday rain
cancellation...The Wolves scored two in the first and were still up,
2-0, when Kyle Saul smacked a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of
the seventh...Keith Noe and Nick Rodieck, each tossing one perfect
inning, picked up the win and save respectively...Imeson and Chris
Franco had two hits each.

Friday, UCSD rapped out 15 hits and exploded for nine sixth-inning runs
in whipping Grand Canyon, 15-6, in the series opener...Sophomore
shortstop Vance Albitz walked and scored to open the sixth and later
cracked a grand slam in the same frame...Junior first sacker Matt
Cantele had three hits...Starter Matt Rossman was chased after four
innings, but Tim Shibuya, Nick Young and Rodieck held the Antelopes at
bay out of the bullpen with Shibuya accruing the win.

Pitching carried the day in Saturday’s doubleheader with freshman Guido
Knudson hurling six strong innings in a 7-1 first game victory and
senior Trevor Decker going five innings while notching win No. 1 on the
year, 6-2...A four-run second buoyed Knudson in the first game and
sophomore reliever Kirby St. John accounted for three shutout
innings...Albitz, Saul and Justin Bono had two hits each...In the
nightcap, the Tritons broke open a one-run contest with three in the
sixth...Chris Franco had a two-RBI single and Cantele drove in three.

O’Brien utilized five pitchers in a 9-4 decision in the finale with
Shibuya getting his second win of the series...Franco and Cantele each
belted three-run dingers.

IMPROVING WOMEN’S WATER POLO EARNS TOURNEY SPLIT
Showing glimpses of a presumably bright future, the 15th-ranked Women’s
Water Polo team went 2-3 at home last week including a 2-2 performance
in the weekend’s Triton Invitational...Now 3-7 overall, Coach Larry
Sanders’ club hosts Western Water Polo Assn. (WWPA) foe Cal State San
Bernardino Saturday.

Things started off on a down note for the Tritons as they were
defeated, 15-9, by No. 10 Hartwick in their home opener last Thursday
night...A cool night became nearly frigid after the Hawks rolled out to
a 4-0 first period lead...The Tritons steadied, however, and had closed
to 10-8 before a 5-1 Hartwick surge over the final five minutes put it
away... Junior Sydney Gstettenbauer scored four times for UCSD and
redshirt freshman Janice Aguilar added two, one a nasty fourth quarter
backhander.

The Tritons got four more goals from Gstettenbauer Saturday morning,
snapping their five-game losing streak with an 11-8 triumph over
Indiana in the first game of the Triton Invitational...The Hoosiers got
the first goal but quick tallies from Nicole Hermann and Liz Hahn made
it 2-1 and UCSD never relinquished the lead...The afternoon brought an
agonizing, 12-11, sudden death overtime loss to No. 12 Loyola Marymount
but the loss brought with it the realization that Sanders & Co.
have the capability of playing with anyone in the WWPA...The defending
WWPA champion Lions never trailed in this contest but were also never
up by more than a deuce...Gstettenbauer drilled a fourth quarter man-up
goal to send it into OT...After both teams posted three goals in the
standard two overtime periods, LMU converted a five-meter penalty shot
in the first sudden death period to clinch the game...Sophomore
Stephanie Heinrich led the UCSD offense with four goals as
Gstettenbauer and Hermann contributed three apiece...Senior goalie Kim
Hockett was clutch in the cage, turning away 10 shots.

In Sunday’s opener, the Tritons were solid in the middle but poor early
and late, losing to No. 14 Long Beach State, 10-7...UCSD got off slow
again, trailing, 4-1, after the first eight minutes...Sanders’ club
chipped away and was just one down, 7-6, with under four minutes to
go...But the wheels fell off at that point with the 49ers scoring the
next two and three of the final four...Gstettenbauer, rapidly evolving
into an offensive force, put up four more goals and teamed with Hermann
(three goals) for all of UCSD’s scoring...The Tritons showed plenty of
grit in their tourney finale, putting the knockout punch to No. 16 Cal
State Northridge, 8-7, in sudden death overtime...A long range attempt
by Gstettenbauer late in the shot clock found the back of the cage to
lift UCSD to a win that seemed sorely in doubt after the Matadors kept
things alive with a last second goal at the end of the second OT
period...The game winner was Gstettenbauer’s third goal of the
game...Senior Judy Emaus checked in with two goals and played strongly
down the stretch.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL TRAVELS TO USC, PEPPERDINE
Now 3-8 on the year after a two-match split last week, the Men’s
Volleyball team will try to avenge early season home losses when it
travels to No. 11 USC Wednesday and No. 5 Pepperdine Saturday.

Big performances from Russ Hardy (13 kills) and Frank Fritsch (10
kills/two aces) propelled UCSD to a 3-0 (30-19, 30-15, 30-27) conquest
of NAIA Hope International last Wednesday in Fullerton...The Tritons
hit .349 as a team and blitzed the Royals in just 75 minutes with
freshman Phil Bannan handing out 41 assists.

Friday night, UCSD was downed, 3-1 (30-22, 30-28, 33-35, 30-18) by No.
3 Long Beach State at the Pyramid in Long Beach...Fritsch had 17 kills
and fellow sophomore Jason Spangler 16 in the loss...Fritsch also had
10 digs and Spangler three aces but the Tritons were out-hit, .338-.141
and out-blocked, 13.5-7.0.

FORTY-ONE IN A ROW FOR WOMEN'S TENNIS IN CCAA
After upping its season mark to 2-0 and extending a CCAA dual match win
streak to 41, the Women’s Tennis team travels to Division I Cal State
Northridge Wednesday before returning home to battle NAIA Fresno
Pacific Friday.

UCSD now heads to Phoenix where it will square off against Division II
rivals Midwestern State, Abilene Christian and Hawaii-Hilo...Midwestern
State and Abilene Christian are Top 20 squads.

GOLF TEAM PLAYS IN CSU SAN MARCOS INVITATIONAL
After finishing fourth at the San Diego Intercollegiate Classic two
weeks ago, the Golf team heads to Bonsall today for the Cal State San
Marcos Invitational, at San Luis Rey Downs Country Club...After 36
holes today, the tourney concludes with 18 Tuesday...Teeing it up for
UCSD will be Billy Olsen, Austin Alfonso, Keith Okasaki, Ryan Bailey
and Alex Schmitt with Noah Moss playing as an individual.

TRACK & FIELD PREPS FOR SEASON OPENER
Senior Todd Bettisworth captured three events (100-200-400) to
highlight Saturday’s annual Blue-Gold Alumni Track & Field
meet...Coaches Tony Salerno and Darcy Ahner send their teams into
regular season competition for the first time Feb. 21 at Claremont’s
Rossi Relays.

FENCERS ROLL AT FULLERTON
Coach Heidi Runyan’s Fencing team steamed past three conference rivals
Sunday at the Cal State Fullerton Tournament...The Triton men topped
Cal Tech (25-2), Cal State Fullerton (24-3) and UC Irvine (26-1) while
the women knocked off the same three teams—Cal Tech (24-3), Cal State
Fullerton (23-4) and UC Irvine (24-3).

The fencers are idle this week, prepping for the Feb. 23
Intercollegiate Fencing Conference of Southern California (IFCSC)
Championship.